Supportive nursing garment

ABSTRACT

A nursing garment comprising a breast support, a breast covering layer disposed between breasts of a user and the breast support, and a pair of shoulder straps, with each strap connected to the breast covering layer. The breast covering layer has a nursing flap positioned over each breast, with each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provide access to a breast for nursing an infant. The breast support is releasably detachable from the breast covering layer to enable lifting of the nursing flap and the nursing flap continues to cover the breast from view while nursing the infant.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to nursing garments worn by women duringpregnancy and breastfeeding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pregnant and breastfeeding women usually wear nursing bras toaccommodate the typical increase in breast size during pregnancy andbreastfeeding. During the night it is also more comfortable to sleepwith the additional support of a bra. Typically women wear either anursing bra, a sports crop bra, or a shelf bra which is built into anouter garment.

Nursing bras include cups that may be opened from the front to exposethe breasts for nursing, and therefore these are the most convenient touse whilst breastfeeding. Once opened, the nursing cup of a traditionalnursing bra exposes the majority of the breast to allow forbreastfeeding; however this leaves the top of the breast exposed evenwhen the baby is attached. Nursing bras are generally designed for daywear and cannot be comfortably worn while sleeping as they are oftenmade from non-elastic or lacy fabrics with bulky fasteners at the back.

Sports crop bras and shelf bras are usually constructed from a front andback panel of stretch fabric and can be pulled over the head without theneed for fasteners to do them up at the back. However most of thesetypes of bras, excluding one disclosed in patent application number WO02/30221 A2, lack the drop down cup for breastfeeding. All of theabovementioned types of bras lack the support and breast separation oftraditional nursing bras and furthermore do not cover the breast duringbreastfeeding.

Breastfeeding in public is not generally seen as socially acceptablebehaviour and many women feel intimidated and embarrassed. A needtherefore exists for a nursing garment for pregnant and breastfeedingwomen that combines comfort and nursing functionality with breastsupport, modesty and aestheticism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anursing garment comprising:

a breast support;

a breast covering layer disposed between breasts of a user and thebreast support;

a pair of shoulder straps, each strap connected to the breast coveringlayer;

the breast covering layer having a nursing flap positioned over eachbreast, each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provideaccess to a breast for nursing an infant;

wherein the breast support is releasably detachable from the breastcovering layer to enable lifting of the nursing flap and the nursingflap thereafter covers the breast from view while nursing the infant.

The nursing garment may further comprise a back panel having side edgesconnected to respective side edges of the breast support and respectiveside edges of the breast covering layer.

Each shoulder strap may be connected at one end to an upper edge of thebreast covering layer and at another end to an upper edge of the backpanel.

The nursing garment may further comprise a band extending around thetorso of the user, the band being connected to a lower edge of the backpanel a lower edge of the breast support and a lower portion of thebreast covering layer.

Each of the shoulder straps may be connected to the upper edge of thebreast covering layer by one or more hooks. The breast support may havean eyelet, to enable releasable attachment to the one or more hooksthereby allowing the breast support to fold downwardly and provideaccess to the nursing flap.

The breast support is preferably formed as a pair of cups and a basepanel, each cup attached to the base panel. The eyelet of the breastsupport is located at an upper portion of each cup to enable either cupto fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

The nursing garment may be made of a stretchable material to avoid theuse of fasteners in the back panel such that the garment is placedaround the torso after being looped over the head of the user. Suchmaterials may include soft, elastic and stretchable fabrics, such asspandex (or elastane), polyester, cotton or blends thereof whicheliminates the need for fasteners at the back of the garment and isdesigned to be pulled over the head Once the nursing cup of the breastsupport has been opened, the flap of the breast covering layer may belifted to allow the baby to attach and then pulled back over the top ofthe breast whilst breastfeeding so that the entire breast is obscured.

The nursing garment may be a bra or form part of another garment, suchas a singlet, shirt or dress.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described solely byway of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of a nursing garment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a second embodiment of a nursing garment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a breast covering layer of the garment;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a breast support of the garment as used in theembodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a breast support of the garment as used in theembodiment of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a front view of the back panel of the garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a nursing garment 100according to two embodiments of the present invention. Like referencenumerals have been used for the same features in each of the sixFigures. The nursing garment 100 includes a breast support 108 and abreast covering layer 106. It may further include a back panel 116, apair of shoulder straps 126 and a band 118 that encircles the torso of auser.

The breast support 108 is a breast conforming layer configured toprovide breast support. To optimise breast support, the nursing garmentof FIG. 1 has a pair of cups 109. Each cup 109 of the breast support 108is made from an upper panel 110 and a lower panel 112 sewn together toform the cup shape. The two cups 109 are then stitched into a base panel114 which holds the cups 109 in place over each breast. This method isoften used in traditional bra cups, as best seen in FIG. 4, and need notbe further described herein.

The breast support 108 shown in FIG. 2, and in isolation in FIG. 5,comprises a single layer attached at a lower edge 123 to an elastictorso-encircling band 118. This type of breast support is commonlyreferred to as a shelf bra or sports crop bra The nursing garment 100 isassembled by sewing together side edges 111, 113 of the breast support108, side edges 115, 117 of the breast covering layer 106 (FIG. 5), andside edges 119, 121 of the back panel 116 (FIG. 6). The lower edge 123of the breast support 108, lower portion 125 of the breast coveringlayer 106, and lower edge 127 of the back panel 116 are connected to theelastic torso-encircling band 118. The breast support 108 is thereforeoverlapping the breast covering layer 106 such that nursing flaps 120 ofthe layer 106 are in co-location with cups 109 and 111 of breast support108 of FIG. 1.

The breast covering layer 106, as best seen in FIG. 3, is preferably aT-shaped layer that is attached by the lower portion 125 to the elastictorso-encircling band 118, and by a top edge 133 of each nursing flap120 to a pair of shoulder straps 126 via one or more hooks 124 oralternatively a clasp. Specifically, the shoulder straps 126 includemoving sliders (not shown) to enable adjustment of the length, thusadjusting the overall size of the bra cups. Moving sliders are widelyused in garments such as lingerie and need not be further describedherein.

Releasable eyelets 122 are attached to the upper areas (between sideedges 111, 113 and upper edge 107) of the breast support 108 atpositions overlapping corresponding hooks 124, the hooks 124 permanentlyattaching the breast covering layer 106 to the shoulder straps 126. Asbest seen in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, in use a wearer releases one of the hooks124 from a corresponding eyelet 122 to allow one side of the breastsupport 108 to fold downwardly to expose a nursing flap 120, which is aportion of the breast covering layer 106. The nursing flap 120 is thenfolded or lifted upwardly to allow nursing. While the infant is feedingand throughout the folding down of the breast support 108, the nursingflap 120 of the layer 106 covers the breast used for nursing. Thus amother can feed her child without feeling exposed in public.

The embodiments of the present invention describes a supportive nursinggarment with a breast covering layer for discrete breastfeeding. It isdesigned to stretch and be pulled over the head of a user to ensuremaximum comfort.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment described above is intendedonly to serve as an example and that many other embodiments are possiblewith the spirit and the scope of the present invention. The nursinggarment may be constructed on its own or as a shelf bra as part of anouter garment. Further, the configuration of the shoulder straps is notlimited, and may be implemented in other configurations such as a halterneck or a Y-back. Finally, the releasable connection between the bracups and the breast support is not limited to hook and eye fasteners,but may be alternatively implemented using conventional releasablefasteners, such as hoop and loop fasteners (or Velcro). It will also beappreciated that the back panel is not restricted to a single panel, butcan be formed in two panels or segments that are connected through asuitable fastener such as a hook and eyelet combination as per a regularbra.

1. A nursing garment comprising: a breast support; a breast coveringlayer disposed between breasts of a user and the breast support; a pairof shoulder straps, each strap connected to the breast covering layer;the breast covering layer having a nursing flap positioned over eachbreast, each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provideaccess to a breast for nursing an infant; wherein the breast support isreleasably detachable from the breast covering layer to enable liftingof the nursing flap and the nursing flap thereof covers the breast fromview while nursing the infant.
 2. A nursing garment according to claim 1further comprising a back panel having side edges connected torespective side edges of the breast support and respective side edges ofthe breast covering layer.
 3. A nursing garment according to claim 2wherein each shoulder strap is connected at one end to an upper edge ofthe breast covering layer and at another end to an upper edge of theback panel.
 4. A nursing garment according to claim 3 further comprisinga band extending around the torso of the user, the band being connectedto a lower edge of the back panel, a lower edge of the breast supportand a lower portion of the breast covering layer.
 5. A nursing garmentaccording to claim 4 wherein each of the shoulder straps are connectedto the upper edge of the breast covering layer by one or more hooks. 6.A nursing garment according to claim 5 wherein the breast support has aneyelet to enable releasable attachment to the one or more hooks therebyallowing the breast support to fold downwardly and provide access to thenursing flap.
 7. A nursing garment according to claim 6 wherein thebreast support is formed as a pair of cups and a base panel, each cupattached to the base panel.
 8. A nursing garment according to claim 7wherein the eyelet of the breast support is located at an upper portionof each cup to enable either cup to fold downwardly and provide accessto the nursing flap.
 9. A nursing garment according to claim 8 made of astretchable material to avoid the use of fasteners in the back panelsuch that the garment is placed around the torso after being looped overthe head of the user.
 10. A nursing garment according to claim 1 thatforms part of another garment, such as a singlet, shirt or dress.